From an early age, the environment fascinated Mark Sprenger. His family
was also fascinated with the outside world and took him fishing, hunting and
camping.
"From that I developed a respect for the natural environment," he says.
"I spent a good deal of time walking in the woods, fields and along ponds
and streams identifying the plants and animals I found."
As Sprenger grew older, his interest in the environment matured. In addition
to observing the world around him, he wanted to know what other people were
discovering about the Earth. He opened the now-famous environmental studies
book by Rachel Carson called Silent Spring.
"I was strongly influenced by that book." His eyes were opened, and he
no longer saw only the flora and fauna on his field trips; he saw a world
in crisis. The shores of Lake Erie, where he grew up, were almost entirely
choked with pollution.
"I saw that I couldn't swim in Lake Erie at the time and knew that
I didn't want to go in the Niagara River on the American side because
of the industrial discharges," he says. Sprenger was disturbed by his discoveries.
"I grew up with a respect for the environment and saw with my own eyes what
could and was happening to the environment.
"Environmental scientists are the ones that identified the problems and
the sources of the problems in the Great Lakes -- and through their efforts
many problems were corrected," he says. "I believe there is a social importance
to this work.
"In the late '60s, you couldn't really fish or swim in Lake Erie,
especially at the eastern end of the lake. And the fisheries of Lake Ontario
weren't doing too well either." Now, people swim and fish for salmon,
trout and other species in those waters. But that doesn't mean the problems
are solved.
"Unfortunately, we have yet to solve the problem of contaminants in the
fish, which restricts the consumption of some fish, but at least the fish
are back and that is the first step."
Although not working in the Great Lakes, Sprenger now works to correct
environmental problems with the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S.
He travels to different hazardous waste sites, and once on location, designs
and coordinates an investigation. "I travel to the waste sites, collect samples
and interpret the results."
Once he has gathered enough data, he spends much of his time at the office,
writing documents, reports and comments on the reports. But he's quick
to jump in the car again to aid waste site managers with technical details
at meetings.
Sprenger enjoys working with different people and seeing different parts
of the country while visiting these sites. "I learn something on every trip,"
he says. "I get first-hand knowledge of a new habitat such as a southern salt
marsh or a stream."
The travel is also what makes his job difficult. "I dislike being away
from my home and family," he says. When at the office, Sprenger works regular
hours and can see more of his family. When traveling or in the field, he often
works 15-hour days. And even after hours, he may be called to an emergency
such as an oil spill. But he can't resist the fieldwork.
"I do prefer working in the field than doing office work, but both are
important."
Ian MacCallum, who works for a consulting firm, also finds office work
tiresome at times. "Writing reports to meet a deadline and making sure to
get all your ideas down on paper can be difficult."
MacCallum is currently preparing a pre-planning environmental study to
present to city councilors. He has to translate his findings into terms that
they can understand. "It's tricky stuff in this industry to use plain
language that everyone understands but still conveys the ideas," he says.
Before working at this consulting firm, MacCallum worked as a water quality
officer. In the field, he would often stand in freezing water holding a flow
meter above the waterline.
"It can be pretty demanding work," he says. But like Sprenger, he wouldn't
give up the fieldwork, saying that the visits often give him a clearer idea
of what is happening than he can learn from a textbook.
"In science education, you tend to focus on bits at the edge of knowledge,"
MacCallum says. "In environmental science, we're looking at the entire
situation and what its effects are."
MacCallum enjoys having to combine the academic and field knowledge. "It's
the breadth of knowledge, and not having to focus on a narrow plain, that
I enjoy most," he says.
Having a broad base of knowledge could only help in this field. "Environmental
science is interdisciplinary, so to do well you need that strong foundation
in several sciences," says Sprenger.
Linda Birnbaum didn't have environmental science in mind when she
graduated from high school.
But a solid education and years of experience in research led to her current
position as director of the environmental toxicology division of the Environmental
Protection Agency.
"It's the sort of happenstance occurrence that can happen in any field.
I was doing research at a small nonprofit institution on drug metabolism when
I discovered an interest in toxicology."
Birnbaum earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University
of Rochester and a master's and doctorate in microbiology from the University
of Illinois.
Prior to joining the EPA in 1990, Birnbaum was head of the Chemical Disposition
Group at the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences. She's
also an adjunct professor, a member of numerous professional societies and
editorial boards, and has presented more than 50 national and international
talks since 1989.
There is room in this field for people who are concerned about the environment.
The number of environmental scientists has increased dramatically since the
'60s, and although the increase has slowed down, there will always be
a need for environmental protectors.
All you have to do is take a stroll along a harbor front that still dumps
raw sewage into its waters, or walk by wetlands that are being destroyed by
condominium developments, to realize that the need for environmental scientists
is real.
"It took a long time to create the environmental problems," says Sprenger.
"They can't be fixed overnight."